Area coaches, players invited to volleyball All-Star game

May 07, 2009

A column by Andy Sneddon News-Review Sports Editor

Two area high school volleyball coaches, Petoskey's Heather Miller and Pellston's Tim McNitt, will coach in the Michigan Interscholastic Volleyball Coaches Association All-Star Classic at Kellogg Arena in Battle Creek on July 31.

The pair are among 32 prep coaches selected for the classic, which runs in conjunction with a coaches clinic in which a who's-who of state high school volleyball coaches participate.

Coaches whose teams reach at least the state quarterfinal round in the previous season are invited to coach in the event. Pellston made it to the Class D state semifinals last fall, while the Northmen reached the Class B state quarterfinals.

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It's the second time McNitt will coach in the classic. His first trip was in 2003.

"I can't tell you how honored I was the first time I was asked to do it," he said. "I looked around that gym and saw the coaches … and I'm like, 'How am I in the same room with these people?' It was an amazing experience. It's really a great experience."

It is the first time Miller has been selected to coach in the event. She played in it after her senior year at West Ottawa High School in 1991.

Teams are comprised of graduated seniors who made either the first-, second- or third-team MIVCA All-State teams last fall.

Three area players - Amber Kotalik of Boyne City, Kaylee Hewitt of Harbor Light Christian, and Sarah Potter of Charlevoix - are eligible to play in the event.

Cancer benefit

We've seen a ton of women's college basketball and WNBA teams do it in recent years, and even some high school football teams.

Now, it's coming to Northern Michigan softball when Charlevoix plays host to Frankfort in a non-league doubleheader 4:30 p.m. Friday, May 15, at the Charlevoix High School Softball Field.

They're calling it "Help Strike Out Cancer" and it is a fund-raiser for the American Cancer Society in conjunction with the National Fastpitch Coaches Association.

Players will wear pink uniforms, pink-and-white cancer awareness T-shirts will be available, cancer survivors will throw out the first pitch, autographed softballs will be raffled, and admission charges will be donated to the American Cancer Society.

Academic honors

Several area high school basketball players were honored recently by the Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan (BCAM).

Charlevoix's Thomas Parrish was named to the Class C boys' All-State team, while Ellsworth's Tyler Ingalls and Jarod Steenwyk were named to the Class D boys' squad. All three are seniors.

Each squad is comprised of 20 players. Ellsworth junior Jared Danbert and Pellston freshman Christopher Hass received special mention in Class D.

Ingalls and Steenwyk were named to BCAM's Academic All-State team as well. Steenwyk carries a 3.96 grade point average, Ingalls at 3.83. They are two of 29 players on the boys' team.

Ellsworth ranked No. 1 in the state among Class D teams with a 3.6012 cumulative GPA, while Wolverine was ranked 10th with a 3.3623.

Petoskey was ranked third in Class B with a 3.5655 GPA, while Boyne City was ranked 10th in Class C with a 3.3578.

Ellsworth's girls' team, with a 3.4228, received honorable mention in Class D.

College notes

- Petoskey graduate Jenny Webb of Albion placed seventh in two events and ran a leg on the Britons' record-setting women's 400-meter relay team at the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association championships.

Webb led off the 400 relay which finished third in a school record time of 50.06 seconds. She also placed seventh in the 100, 13.25; and seventh in the 200, 27.13, a personal best.

- Charlevoix grad Scott Friske received the Thomas Hoagland '63 Award from the Brown men's basketball team, an award that goes to a player "who exemplifies true unselfishness through commitment and hard work both on the court and in the community."

Friske, a 6-foot-7 forward, is a senior at Brown whose season ended with six games remaining because of illnes. He started in 21 of the 22 games in which he played, averaging 6.3 points and 5.1 rebounds per game. The Bears finished 9-19, 3-11 in the Ivy League.

- Petoskey graduate Patrick Liederbach placed sixth in the men's 5000-meter run and seventh in the 1500 for Detroit Mercy in the Horizon League Track & Field Championships at Benedictine (Ill.) University.

Liederbach's times were 3 minutes, 57.42 seconds in the 1500, and 15:01.24 in the 5000. The Titans finished fifth in the seven-team meet.